Welcome to Week Two of Wildfire Smoke Season 2024! It’s like the Olympics, only longer and worse. This is going to be an endurance event, not a sprint, so clean your indoor air, take advantage of cleaner air breaks when we get them, and hang in there. We’ve made it through previous long smoke seasons. It’s hard to remember snow when it’s 100 degrees outside, but it will come. For now, check out www.montanawildfiresmoke.org for great tips on using portable air cleaners and HVAC systems to clean the indoor air!
Now, I did not have two wildfires this close to town by the third week of July on my 2024 bingo card. We don’t have a lot of information about the Butler Creek Fire yet, and for now, the focus is rightly on protecting lives and property from the fire. Depending on how/if it grows in the coming hours and days, it will be positioned to send smoke down into Missoula. The recent update from Montana DNRC states the fire is burning in grass and heavy timber. Our firefighting professionals have an excellent track record stamping out grass fires, but if it gets into the forest and heads into the hills, it could be a longer duration fire. Should this happen, we can expect smoke to settle down into the valley and drain into Missoula in the evenings. During the day, smoke impacts will be wind and plume driven. (Note this is the same pattern folks east and west of the Miller Peak Fire have been experiencing.) I’m hoping we get more information about the Butler Creek Fire soon. As always, be alert for changing conditions. Bookmark the Fire and Smoke Map (www.fire.airnow.gov) and check it often.
You may have noticed it’s smoky this morning. Conditions are currently Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups across Missoula County and Unhealthy near our active fires (Upper Miller Creek, Clinton and Butler Creek). I know the temptation is to blame our local fires for all the smoke we’re seeing. They’re certainly contributing a bit to conditions in Missoula, but the smoke that blew in yesterday was primarily from Canada. They have a lot of large fires, and upper level winds swung their smoke down into central Montana and then west, right into our breathing space yesterday afternoon. That smoke is trapped across western Montana but should lift up and move off later today. The good news is that smoke will be pushed back east of us as winds shift to be from the west. The bad news is the westerly breezes that will send Canadian smoke away is going to deliver smoke from Oregon and Washington to our valleys.
There is a small chance of lightning today and then we’ll see strong winds later this week. This means we may see more starts, and we will likely see active fire behavior from local fires as the week progresses. Stay alert and please do what you can to avoid human caused fires. There are Stage II Restrictions across Missoula County. This means no recreational fires. No outdoor burning. There are hoot owl restrictions on the use of equipment like lawn mowers. Here’s the full list from the Missoula County Fire Protection Association:
The following activities are prohibited under Stage II fire restrictions:
- Building, maintaining, attending or using a fire or campfire.
- Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is cleared of flammable materials.
- Operating lawn mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws and other internal combustion engines from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- Welding or operating acetylene or other torch devices with an open flame between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m.
- Using an explosive between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m.
- Operating motor vehicles off designated roads and trails, with exceptions for those carrying out official business related to the function of governmental agencies and public utilities
To sum up: This morning we have smoke from Canada and our local fires. This afternoon, conditions should improve thanks to inversions breaking and smoke starting to lift up. Later today or tomorrow, conditions will deteriorate due to smoke arriving from fires west of us and smoke from our local fires settling down into assorted drainages.
Remember: While we can’t drive the smoke out of our valleys, we can prepare for it. If you are able, create cleaner indoor air with a HEPA portable air cleaner, a DIY air cleaner, or by using efficient filters in your forced air furnace or central air handler. Check out www.montanawildfiresmoke.org for tips! If you spend time in a building with a commercial HVAC system, talk to your building operator about following ASHRAE’s Planning Framework for Protecting Commercial Building Occupants from Smoke During Wildfire Events.
Also, we haven’t quite reached the end of this heat wave. While smoke is unhealthy, heat is immediately dangerous. You must cool your home, and that may mean opening your windows at night and letting cooler, smoky air inside. It’s not a great situation, but if you don’t have air conditioning, it’s your best option. I’ve had good success running a window air conditioner and HEPA portable air cleaner in my bedroom while the rest of my house is open to cooler, smoky air. I’ve been able to keep the air in that room cooler and cleaner than the rest of my house, even with the door cracked to let the cats and out. Do what you can, hang in there, and check in on family and friends.
much become trapped in the valleys will depend on the timing of its arrival. Currently, it looks like tomorrow may be a worse air quality day. Photo credit: NOAA.
